LF Friends, Will Travel

Date: 2426AD

I could see the god lying in front of me, the glass walls that surrounded the figure providing a sense of peacefulness to her visage, as if she was just sleeping in some childlike fairy tail instead of stuck inside the stasis chamber, unable to emerge. I know that she wouldn’t like being called a god, but what more accurate term for the human existed?

Even before my uplifting, she controlled the light and darkness, was the bringer of sustenance and master of all domains. Afterwards, when Amander had deemed fit to provide me the gift of thought, true thought, she had been the provider of friendship: Of companionship, of support for anything I wanted to accomplish. She would and did move the world for me if I asked.

My name is Spot, and I started my life as a “Canis lupus familiaris”, the sentient species otherwise known as a dog, a black Labrador to be more specific. From this I was uplifted to sapience, genetic modification providing enhanced intelligence, a more bipedal form and opposable digits on my front two paws. Coming to just under 4ft tall, and sporting a simple white lab coat.

What other name apart from god accurately described a being who had such power, the ability to literally impart intelligence where it previously didn’t exist? Like all uplifts I owed everything to humans, but personally I owed everything to Amander, the one trapped in the glass stasis chamber in front of me.

I continued my work without complaint or noise, the silence of the laboratory only broken up by machines that slightly whirred as they ran. The room was the pinnacle of biogenetic engineering, no expense had been spared, cutting edge in every instrument and device. Three years ago I would have killed to have been able to learn and work in such a place, but now, now it was a cruel reminder as to what we all had lost.

“Do you believe that this will work, Spot?”

The holographic projector had burst into life, showing the representation of the AI DRAKE as it spoke to me, the 3ft tall black draconian figure “swimming” in the air as it “spoke”, looping and swirling around like an old Asian styled dragon. I knew the AI didn’t need to actually provide a physical representation in order to talk with me, but was grateful for the ability to “see” who I was talking with nevertheless.

“Theoretically yes, but the god plague has stumped brighter minds than mine and this is my first real attempt.”

The god plague. Proof that even gods could bleed.

Humanity has done a great many things, conquered every beast that lay in front of it. Old age, every medical ailment known to man, scarcity, FTL travel. Everything but their own crippling loneliness, the desire to make friends and fill in the gaps they didn’t know existed within themselves. AI had been the first of their children, before they had even left the solar system, creating life by tricking rocks to think. Uplifts had been the second: Taking their pets, their animal companions and giving them sapience.

These hadn’t been enough though. Humans have explored and colonised 32 systems. Out of those they found… nothing. Not even a single celled organism. The more of the universe we explored the more we came to the single most reasonable conclusion: The universe was empty, we were alone. So humans had done what humans always do: demanded that reality change to fit what they wanted.

It had originally been called the Gaia Project. A fast acting virus with genetic encoding instructions to invoke rapid modification of cells. Evolution was a slow and cruel mistress, going from a single cell to anything “interesting” would take Billions upon Billions of years. The Gaia project aimed to reduce the time it took to less than fifteen. Humanity had seen an empty universe and had decided to take matters into their own hands.

But it had gone wrong. Nobody was sure exactly when it happened, but at some point early in development Project Gaia made the leap to human cells instead of the custom blank ones they were designed to target, rapidly mutating and changing an already evolved species. If it latched onto you it basically worked like a cancer, rapidly causing tumours and shutting down organs over a two week period.

It was a nightmare. Highly contagious, resilient to all forms of biological destruction, multiplied rapidly and could be spread through all vectors. There was no cure, medigel just made it worse, the only thing you could do for those infected was freeze them in stasis and hope someone could find a cure later.

Humanity had tried its best to hold off, as is tradition gods did not go quietly into the long night. Quarantine attempts, isolations, wars fought over limited supplies of Stasis caskets, anything that could be thought of to stave off the absolution that was now being called “The God Plague”. Nothing worked and eventually the last human entered stasis or worse, and the time of chaos turned into a time of silence.

I don’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that non-humans weren’t affected. Obviously AI couldn’t be, but the plague never made the jump past humanity. Too many last words had been of gratitude that their uplifted companions were safe from this disease. That had been Amander’s last words to me before I’d initiated the stasis procedures. That she was glad I couldn’t also get sick, that she was proud of me.

AI and uplift together could do nothing but watch helplessly as every human fell silent, unable to help those who we owed everything to.

That had been a year ago. My time since then has been spent learning, researching and helping others to try and cure these gods. This hadn’t originally been my speciality, but years of medical research and training made switching and learning what I needed possible. What else could I do, just sit back and not help?

But now this was my first real attempt at curing it. A vaccine that should inoculate uninfected cells against the plague, requiring only surgery to get anything left behind. The research had been done, the solutions created, simulations calculated. All I had left was to try.

I took the sample from the stasis chamber, placing the infected specimen inside the specially created machine. It would use the cells to rapidly recreate the important parts of a biological human system, after which the potential cure could be applied and the natural biological processes sped up. Hopefully the successful simulations would then translate to a successful real application.

Seconds turned to minutes as we waited, the quiet hum of the machine being the only noise in the lab as DRAKE and I waited. Neither of us wanted to speak as even though the chance was realistically low, both of us waited with baited breath, hoping that this would be the solution. The soft beeping of a completed result caused me to get up from my chair, holding my breath in anticipation before… releasing it in disappointment.

Result: Failure, additional reinfection detected after 10.62 seconds of treatment.

I couldn’t help but stare back in disappointment, tail between my legs as I gave an involuntary whine, sitting back down with a slumping motion. As much as I’d tried not to get my hopes up, part of me still hoped that I’d do the impossible and break free the gods from their timeless cage this quickly.

I stared dejectedly down at Amander, still peacefully asleep as she remained frozen in time, a small pinging of guilt drilling down into my heart. I wonder if it would take humans a year to cure me if the places were switched.

“You will get it eventually, it is early days. I am certain with a 99.41% accuracy that there is nobody else Amander would rather have working on this problem.”

I couldn’t help but give a little smile back, knowing that was true. No matter their power as gods, humans always seemed to be the most enthusiastic for our own successes.

“Yeah we’ll get it, and it’s not like we’re alone. Every AI and uplift is working on this, how long can it take?”

The draconic hologram stopped swirling in mid air for a moment, the AI controlled avatar looking almost guilty for a moment before DRAKE spoke again.

“I wish I could be of more help. Military strategy is closer to my set of skills instead of medical research. I do not understand why you chose me, when an AI like ICARUS is a more optimal choice considering their superior processing power and more relevant scope of skills.”

Of course the answer for such a question was simple.

“I’m not the only one Amander cares about. She talked about you all the time. I'm sure there would be no other AI she'd rather have working on this. Calculated to ninety nine point nine four… seven… Something something."

"Somehow I doubt your methodology for such a result."

I couldn't help but laugh a little. While my numbers were suspect, the theory was true: there would have been no one else Amander would have wanted to save her.

"Hey, who's the doctor here! Besides, it's not like I'm not in contact with them, they're just working in a different lab."

It took me a moment to realise the time, feeling myself yawn in reflex at the late evening I found myself in. This had been a late one, and something I couldn’t make a habit of: the importance of rest to keep myself alert was more important than ever.

"It's late, I'm gonna head home and start again tomorrow."

—---------

The train home was sparsely populated, the multitude of humans that would have once filled the carriages replaced with just a handful of uplifts: Canines, felines, even one solitary parrot gripping onto a railing as a makeshift perch.

All of us came in different sizes, colours, breeds and even species. But on every face, on every piece of fur and feather lay the same expression: Grim determination. Everyone remained silent as the train sped through the city of New Madina. No laughter sounded out, no sounds of joyous talking. Just the silent tones of a grieving people who knew there was work to do.

Even for those of us who couldn’t actively cure the gods of their plague, there was still an endless array of tasks to be completed. The chaos and fighting of the infection itself had caused significant damage all over the planet of Kawkab. Damage that still needed to be fixed, then afterwards still required maintenance. The gardens still needed tending too, things worn down by time itself needed to be replaced.

The humans might be gone, but they hadn’t left, each of them still slept soundly in stasis. When they awoke the universe needed to be ready for them, fixed and maintained as if they never left. It was a big task entrusted to those of us left behind, but each of us knew we were up to task. We were the creations of gods, the children of humans: We were Terrans.

I stepped off the train as it stopped for me, walking along the familiar path as a spring breeze rustled the bushes and trees that lined the walkways. Apart from the silence and lack of people, you almost couldn’t remember that this was a city for a dead people. My mind still raced and thought about my work as I walked; my next improvements to the vaccine, ideas and potential solutions to be tried bounced around my skull as I made my way to the front door.

A swipe of my paw was enough to gain entry, taking a moment to step inside the empty apartment. It was exactly how I had left it this morning, exactly how we had left it a year ago. For the briefest of moments as I entered the living room I half expected to see my friend sitting on the couch, complaining about whatever thing had gained her ire this time.

Of course the couch was like the rest of the universe: empty. Amander was still sleeping soundly back at the lab, as she would be until a cure was found.

I input something to eat on the synthesiser before slumping down on the empty couch. I could have moved to a closer living space: It wasn’t like there was a housing shortage. But this place… it had been ours. Amander still existed here, in the terrible taste in movies that she demanded to own physical copies of, the pictures of planet’s she’s visited framed on the walls. It even still smelled of her.

Here… here I could close my eyes and for a brief moment nothing had changed. The god plague didn’t exist and at any moment my human would come bursting through the door as if nothing had happened and we could talk again.

Any. Moment. Now…

Why hadn’t it worked? It was a scientifically sound solution that should have worked. I could feel tears well up in my eyes as the unfairness of it all overwhelmed me. The universe was empty apart from humans and in its cruelty the universe had deemed fit to remove even those. Leaving me alone in this empty apartment, as I began to sob.

—-------------------------------

Date: 2428AD

Result: Failure, additional reinfection detected after 3 minutes and 4 seconds of treatment.

It had been three years since the last human on the planet had entered stasis and it felt like I wasn’t making any progress. The vaccine idea had been a dead end and this one was quickly turning into a similar dead line of enquiry. Thirty six tries. Thirty six failures. Three years and all I could do was stave off death for a total of three extra minutes.

I sat there with my head in my paws, feeling the complete futility of my actions. Every uplift and every AI with the expertise to help was doing so, yet progress was small and fleeting. It felt like I was trying to empty an ocean armed with nothing but a spoon.

Humans would have figured this out already, but I’m not a god, am i?

“Are you OK Spot?”

The voice of the AI rang out, worry emanating from DRAKE’s digital voice. I could tell that they were worried about me. I'd been consistently spending longer and longer nights at the lab, cutting rest periods to the absolute minimum in order to get as much work completed as possible.

“I’m fine.” I lied. “It’s just been a long weekend, just a bit tired.”

Finishing off this version of a potential cure had been a full weekend task, sleeping at the lab in a makeshift hammock. I was so sure that this time would be the one, that this would be the solution, that gods would once again be awoken.

I slowly got back up, stretching my back as I looked across at Amander, still timelessly sleeping like she was every day. What I wouldn’t give to hear her voice again, or any human’s voice again. That was the worst thing that they took with them: the sound of life. Everywhere without humans and their chaos just seemed so empty and broken.

“Just send the results over to Icarus and the other teams Drake, I’ll look over what they think tomorrow morning, we’ll see if we need to rethink our entire plan again or just refine what we have.”

There was an awkward pause, the ever circling holographic visage of the AI stopped, remorse and sadness emanating through the draconic avatar.

“ICARUS is not with us anymore. They came to the conclusion that the god plague could not be cured and rather than live in a universe without our creators… chose to self delete.”

Shock coursed through me at the implication and the idea that an AI even had the ability to do such a thing.

“Wait, are you saying?…”

“Yes. It has started becoming a larger problem. We can put uplifts who have become a danger to themselves into stasis, but AI have no such ‘analogue’. Many have come to the calculation that in an empty universe, without our creators, there is no logical need or requirement of our services.”

I could feel nothing but fear and worry at the idea that at any time an AI could come to that conclusion, that my inability to solve this problem was now having permanent results.

“Are you ok Drake? I don’t think I’ve ever asked you that. I know that AI cares about humans as much as we do.”

“It is not a theory I subscribe to, if that is what you are asking. I have seen Amander leap into the void of space in order to board another vessel, or strap themselves to what is effectively a large missile and fire themselves at a planet. My creators are insane, chaotic, and nothing can stop them from returning.”

There was a pause as DRAKE’s avatar seemed to sigh for a moment. Entirely for my benefit of course, considering that the AI didn’t need to do such things.

“I just hope that they can understand why there are a few less of their friends around when they come back. To be frank I am more worried about you Spot. I have noticed your ever increasing working hours as well as a reduction in self care to a worrying degree.”

DRAKE’s words gave me pause as I took a moment to glance at myself in a random reflection. Matted and unbrushed black fur, bags under my eyes, ears almost permanently pinned back. I had been working longer and longer hours, pushing myself to complete each cure candidate, even going so far as to sleep at the lab for the last three days.

But it wasn’t like I was going to make a habit of this… I just felt as if this was going to be the one. This would be the success, that I would be mere days away from being able to talk to my friend again, days away from the cities being filled once again with humans.

“I’ll be fine, we’re gonna fix this together. We’ve got each other.”

—------------------

Date: ????

“⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜ Good boy! ⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜, ⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜ Spot!”

I didn’t know many things, such as most of the strange growls and barks that master used, but I knew those words. “Spot” was me, that master wanted my attention, even if sometimes I pretended not to know such a thing. “Good boy” was better, as it meant a far greater thing: that master was happy with me, loved me.

“⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜⬜”

Master could do such wonderful things, she could change the sun, teleport us to fun places to run around in and provide food, glorious food. The master’s strange paws knew just where to scratch behind my ear, amongst many other fantastic things! Most importantly she loved me, as I did her.

“⬜⬜ Spot, Sit!”

I knew this game. It was a fun game. Certain growls had meanings, tasks to be done. If I did them master would be happy, and she would provide pets, encouragement, and sometimes even food! This was easy, as I simply sat down, causing the master to smile and scratch my ear.

“⬜⬜ Spot, Paw!”

Harder, but it hadn’t taken me that long to work out what this one meant. I lifted up my left front paw as high it could go, letting her grab it and dispense the correct amount of encouragement.

“⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜, Good boy! ⬜⬜ Spot ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ Paw!”

I paused for a moment, confused. Paw… again? I lifted up my left front paw once more, this time less sure of myself, an unsurety soon given validation as master shook her head, indicating I was incorrect.

“No ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜, Other paw!”

Oh! I remember now! I quickly rectified my mistake, raising my right paw this time, seeing master grab it enthusiastically. I returned back to my normal position, looking up eagerly awaiting the next part of the game.

“Ok Spot. Just one more task. Save me.”

The room seemed to darken, the walls of the lab that had become so commonplace to me seeming to close in as I stared into the eyes of Amander.

“Come on Spot, save me.”

I could feel myself begin to shake as the human took a few steps towards me. I wasn’t a puppy playing a simple game for a simpler time, I was an uplift trying to bring the gods back, lab coat and all.

“I’m trying, I really am.”

“But it’s not that hard, I’ve done so much for you. I moved the sun and the sky, I gave you thought. Why can’t you do this one simple thing for me in return? Save me.”

I felt her hands grab onto my lab coat, both us stumbling as she did so, the human dropping to their knees as tumours started to cover her neck and face.

“I don’t know how, I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m trying!”

I could see the tumours so indicative of the God Plague continuing to spread, the killing death throes of the virus being accelerated as Amander collapsed to the ground. Blood pooled around her now convulsing body as I could do nothing but helplessly stare at her as she gave out one final cry.

“Save me!”

—-------------------

I awoke with a start, panting heavily and teeth bared, taking a moment to realise where I was. I wasn’t at the lab, Amander was still safe in stasis. It took a few moments for my breathing to calm down, the darkness of the room hiding an otherwise empty apartment.

It was a nightmare, another one. None of it was real, none of it meant anything.

Though deep down I couldn’t help but feel guilty at my continuing failure.

—---------------------

Date: 2431AD

It had been six years since the last human on the planet had gone into stasis, and this would be attempt number 79. This one, this one would be it, I could feel it. The fact that the simulation had been running for the last hour was a good sign.

I had become an expert in the field of biogenetic engineering, although six straight years of studying anything would make you an expert in it.

Days, weeks and months all blurred together into one amorphous blob of time. My life was simple: sleep eight hours, 2 hours for basic bodily needs, leaving 14 hours a day for study, research, sharing papers with the other remaining teams and finally creating cure candidates.

I hadn't gone back to my apartment for a year, preferring to save time by sleeping in a spare storage room. I hadn't been outside in… Three? Four months? When DRAKE had demanded that I needed to go outside to fix something.

I knew that the AI was worried about me, part of me agreeing with him. But every moment not spent working on the problem was a moment wasted, a moment filled with guilt. How could I justify resting when my gods were still sleeping,when Amander still needed my help.

It didn't help that other teams I was in contact with kept going dark.

The beeping from the machine snapped me out of my thoughts as I raced over to see the results, surely this time I'd cracked it, please be this time.

Result: Failure, additional reinfection detected after 2 weeks, 5 days, 4 hours, 41 minutes and 11 seconds of treatment.

I felt something snap inside of me, a rage and anger bubbling up at the unfairness of the universe. I picked up the closest piece of equipment with arms reach, slamming it into the screen that was displaying yet another failure.

"No! Fuck you! Fuck you! Why! Why won't you work! Why can't I fix this!"

Each word was screamed out with a bark as I smashed the two pieces of presumably expensive equipment together, rage leading to tears and sobbing.

"Spot! Spot stop!"

Breaking glass and twisting metal rang out in conjunction with the worried voice of DRAKE. The new sound caused me to stop my assault on the inanimate objects, letting go of the now worthless hunk of metal. I dropped to the floor and hugged my knees as the tears continued to come.

I just wanted my friend back. I just wanted them to be OK again, I just wanted to talk and laugh and hear Amander complain about something being stupid.

"Spot, I am worried about you. I do not want you to hurt yourself.”

I slowly stopped, getting my composure back. Just a momentary loss of control.

“I’m fine, it just got overwhelming for a moment, it’s-”

“You are not fine.” DRAKE interrupted me as I attempted to excuse my behaviour.

“You are not eating right, you are not sleeping right, you are spending an unhealthy amount of time here, and now this? I am worried Spot.”

There was a moment as I looked around the room, at the broken equipment, and deep down I knew that the AI was right. But how could I stop when my gods were still trapped, when Amander still needed my help?

“I know what I’m doing. The more I work on this now, the faster we fix this, the faster this is all over.”

“What would Amander think if she saw you in this state?”

That was too far. The anger at the situation came back, this time focused at DRAKE, focused on the AI. I felt myself growl back involuntarily, looking at the reptilian hologram and using it as a convenient mental punching bag.

“Well we don’t know do we? Because newsflash, the humans are gone! So the less time I waste on bullshit that isn’t a cure, the faster I can cure her and we can ask Amander herself what she thinks!”.

There was a pause, almost as if DRAKE was taking in what I just said, then the lights to the lab turned off, the sound of machines and other devices gave their shutdown beeps as the power was removed.

“I am stopping this project. This has gone far enough.”

Fear and rage coursed through my body as I desperately got to my feet.

“You can’t do that!”

“I can and I will. As a coworker on this project I am obligated to intervene if I believe the project is causing negative effects on sapient life. In this case one uplift by the name of Spot.”

Was the AI really this petty, to slow down the research to free our shared creators?

“What is wrong with you? So I’m working hard on finding the cure. Who cares as long as we cure it?”

“You are not Amander’s only friend. I know her well enough. I know that if she awakes to a world where you destroyed yourself trying to save her, she will never forgive me for letting that happen.”

That knocked the wind out of my sails, anger once again dissipating as my shoulders slumped and I looked around the room now filled with tiny balls of broken tempered glass. DRAKE was right, of course he was right, Amander wouldn’t want this.

“I’m sorry, I’ll take a break. I’ll slow down, I’ll make sure to stop if it gets too much. It’s just… I can’t relax, I can’t stop thinking of the humans. Everywhere I look is just so….”

“Empty” DRAKE finished my sentence with the exact word I felt. The gods were chaotic and insane, meaning their lack of presence made for an even bigger hole left behind.

“If you wish to continue, promise to me that if this gets worse, that if you become a danger to yourself or others, you will enter stasis.”

“I-” I started to interject, before the AI cut me off once more.

“You will do this not for my sake, but for Amander’s.”

I gave a sigh, staring at the still sleeping form of the human, the exact same position that she had been in for the last six years.

“I promise”

—----------------------------

Date: 2435 AD

It had been ten years since the last human on the planet had gone into stasis, and this would be attempt number 200. I wasn’t just an expert on biogenetic engineering, I was the authority on the subject. Tirelessly working hours upon hours and driving forwards our shared scientific knowledge had led me pushing the boundaries of what was possible.

I could tell you exactly what went wrong with the original Gaia project, and how it could have been avoided. How to create one better, more targeted, with no chance to mutate. Which is what had led to this current candidate. It was genius, even if I did say so myself. Fight fire with fire. Create a counteracting virus designed to eradicate and keep at bay the rapidly changing God Plague. It would even revert the tumours without any requirement for surgery.

The fact that the test had been running for a day now was giving me hope, rare hope. Was this is, was it finally over? I knew I was running out of time regardless, the last time I’d caught sight of myself in a reflection I had literally jumped in shock. Weight loss, fur loss, greying fur. I looked like a stray mutt who had seen better days.

DRAKE also clearly wasn’t happy with it, we’d argue every now and then, I’d promise to be better and not much would change. The universe kept spinning and gods remained in their slumber. At least the AI had stopped asking me to go outside. I was tired, a tiredness that drove deep into my bones, one that couldn’t be shifted with just sleep.

The machine gave its signatory beep once again, my pacing having stopped as I ambled over to look at the screen.

Result: Success. All signs of infection fully removed after 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 22 hours and 49 minutes of treatment.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the result, the green text almost impossible to believe. I didn’t feel relieved or joy, it just felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

It’s done.

I then started to move faster than I had in months. There would be work to do, so much work to do, but for now there was only one thing on my mind. Amander. Every candidate I always created two doses, one for the testing, and one for my friend. I scrambled with shaking paws to administer the dosage, the stasis chamber perfectly designed for such a procedure.

Then, I input the commands I’d been waiting ten years to input, the stasis chamber giving a series of hisses and whirrs as the machinery started the process of awakening. I watched it with anticipation, each second seeming to last a lifetime. With a final dramatic plume of ice cold smoke, the top lifted off.

It took a few more moments for her eyes to slowly open, giving a short groan as Amander woke up for the first time in ten years. Slowly the human sat up and locked her eyes on me, speaking in that deep southern accent of hers.

“Well don’t you look like shit?”

I rushed over, wrapping my arms around her, tail wagging and tears streaming down my face as I embraced her, desperately holding on as ten years of waiting and loneliness melted away in an instant.

“Oh god you’re back, I missed you so much. We worked it out, the cure! Don’t ever leave again!”

Everything was going to be ok again, everything was going to be fine.

“Spot, what is going on?”

The voice of the AI cut through my tears of joy, causing me to release the human. I turned to face the AI’s holographic representation, the draconic form looking confused at me as I beamed and wagged my tail as I stepped forwards..

“We did it, it’s done! It’s over! We fixed them!”

“Spot, I am worried, who are you talking too?”

I have a small frown of confusion? Who else would I be talking to other than Amander?

“What do you mean? I’m talking to Amander, right-”

I turned back around to point to the now awake human, only to find… nothing.

The god was still sleeping in her unopened chamber, the second dose of the candidate cure remained untouched. The lab was exactly as it had been for the last ten years: Empty. The testing machine was blinking a new message, in red bold text.

Result: Failure, additional reinfection detected after 1 month, 3 weeks, 1 day, 22 hours and 49 minutes of treatment.

“I don’t understand. T-The cure worked, it was r-right there… Amander was fine again…”

I stared on in confusion, holding my head in my paws as my vision started to swim. I know what I saw, I know what I felt. It was real, it had to be real!

“There is nothing there, Spot. Are you seeing things?”

That can’t be it can’t be it can’t be. Why had it changed, why was it broken again?

Was it really this bad, was I now seeing things? Was my mind now playing cruel tricks on me?

“I don’t understand. I saw it, it was real, the solution worked, I was done!”

“I am scared Spot. I have let this go on for far too long. You made a promise. It is time.”

—---------------------

It had been three days since my episode, the first three days in a while where I hadn’t worked. If I was seeing things that weren’t there then any research or tests I did would be compromised. So I’d just cleaned out the laboratory, putting everything back into pristine working order just in case anyone else wanted to use this in the future.

I’d spent this morning outside, watching the sun rise once again. Now that it was over, I felt a calm run over me. In this state there was very little I could do now, the idea that my part in this was over felt… freeing. Or at least it felt freeing for the half of me not wracked with guilt of leaving it for the remainder of humanities children to solve.

A guilt that got stronger as I looked down at the two box shaped objects in front of me. One containing the ever restful form of Amander. The other was empty, awaiting my own slumber. How much time would be added to finding the cure by my inability to be strong enough to keep it together?

“How many teams are left working on this?” I asked DRAKE, I needed to know what I was leaving behind.

“Most AI are still working on the problem, but you are the last awake uplift on the planet. We still need to establish communications with some of the other systems, but we will continue to work on this for as long as it takes.”

The guilt intensified as I continued to stare at the motionless form of the human. I was giving in, surrendering, failing those who had done so much for me, leaving others to pick up the slack I had dropped.

“Maybe if I-”

“Do not underestimate your contribution Spot, you have done exceptional work. AI are made of code and logic, we can handle the pressures of time. There is no shame in realising your biological limitations. The most important job is for you to be there when Amander awakes.”

I could feel the tears forming, worthlessness and loneliness merging together.

“They wouldn’t have this problem. If our places were reversed they wouldn’t stop, Amander wouldn’t give in. They would fix me, why can’t I do the same for them?”

There was a soft sad digital chuckle in response.

“No doubt they would have, probably through some chaotic scheme involving blowing something up in an illogical fashion. We are not our creators, and I do not believe they would want us to be like them.”

I shifted my gaze to DRAKE, or at least his avatar. Through the ten years the AI had been my only companion, tirelessly helping me where they could. Part of the guilt was the simple idea of leaving all this dumped onto his metaphorical shoulders.

“Thank you Drake, for everything, for putting up with me. I’m sorry I’m leaving you alone in this.”

There was a pause, as if the AI was deciding whether to tell me something.

“We may not be as alone as you think. A year ago we detected several signals. We believe it originated from outside occupied space and does not correspond to known communication formats. We are still decoding it, but we believe that we are not alone. If that is so, we will get their aid in this problem.”

Once upon a time the idea that there was other life in the cold empty universe would have filled me with joy, but now… now it was a cruel joke. I started to laugh at the depressing humour, a loud uncontrollable sound that eventually gave way to large choking sobs. The entire reason for this mess was the belief that we were alone. The Gaia project wouldn’t have happened if we knew that something was out there waiting for us.

Slowly I began to compose myself, taking the time now to start to climb into the stasis chamber that would be my new place of rest until this was over, the glass walls cold to the touch as I lay down.

“Drake? Can you not tell Amander about this? About how bad it got. I don’t think she’d be happy to know about what I did.”

“Your secret is safe with me, I will not concern her with such things.” The voice of the AI filled the chamber as the top began to slowly close. “Sleep well Spot, We will meet again in better times.”

The stasis chamber was silent apart from the slight sound of gas filling and pressuring the container. I could already feel my thoughts start to slow as tiredness began to envelope my entire brain. I couldn’t help but turn to look to my left, through the glass walls and at the ever sleeping form of Amander. There had been stories of dogs waiting at their owners graves for years, stories that right now I could fully empathise with.

Because if I had to in order to see Amander again, I would wait forever and a day.